The Saga of Hikan: Dawn of War
by Hikan
Summary: Hikan, Toa Metru of Crystal, washes up on the shores of a vastly different Metru Nui and is plunged into an eternal struggle between the Great Spirits and the Toa... Book Three of the Saga of Hikan.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

One hundred years after the Toa Metru retrieved all of the Matoran spheres from Metru Nui, the City of Legends lay desolate. Its only inhabitants were Rahi, Vahki, and the occasional Visorak. With its population gone, it seemed as if Metru Nui's former glory had been lost to the ages.

And then the Great Spirits arrived.

Having been notified of the city's desolation by a scout one of the Great Beings, their superiors, had sent, the Great Spirits started to demolish everything that had stood in the city previously and mold the landscape to their own liking.

The result? A barren, rocky, desolate wasteland, with the only building being a magnificent fortress that took up much of the entire island and housed sleeping quarters, training facilities, and far more. As well, the constant reforming of the Metru Nui landscape caused waves of massive proportions to form in the waters around the island, thus making all sea travel impossible for the next hundred years or so.

Life went on, and as the Great Spirits conquered more and more islands under their Grand Empire, only one tiny group could stand in their way...

The Toa.

This is their story.


	2. Awakening

**Chapter One**

A tan Toa with emerald eyes watched two burly Great Spirits from behind a large stone formation on the rocky coast. Night had fallen on the island of Metru-Nui and, although the sunsets of Metru-Nui were famed for their immense beauty, Nahili's focus was not on the sunset. Instead, it was on the two Great Spirits standing on a small dais, who she noted were of the Delta division, judging by their dented copper armbands.

"Easy prey," she murmured, and took out a small canister from a pouch on the belt around her waist. The cylinder was clear, with several luminescent green spheres- Bula berries- packed inside. Once thrown, the explosive properties of the berries would activate upon contact, causing a lethal explosion.

The Toa of Wood took aim and launched the cylinder into the air. The two Great Spirits wouldn't know what hit them.

-

Ten minutes later, Sakron-Nu walked down a corridor in the Great Spirit fortress on the island of Metru-Nui. Now, the lavender Great Spirit would normally walk down these corridors with a touch of gravity in his voice and a spring in his step, but today his walk was hurried and urgent; his voice angry.

Sakron took time once again to read the report that had appeared, via the extensive system of message tubes throughout the fortress, in the middle of his bedtime snack. He withdrew the rolled-up parchment from the pocket of his violet robe and read it.

Apparently, two Great Spirits from the Delta division of the army had just had the stone dais they were doing lookout duty on explode, killing them both. As if that wasn't enough, two sets of armour had been stolen from the armoury outpost on the coast at the same time; two sets of armour that would take time and widgets to replace. And Sakron had a very good idea of who was behind both incidents.

The Resistance of Toa.

Now, the Great Spirit army used Toa as its footsoldiers due to their control over elements, large numbers and easy transport, but recently a small group of Toa had rebelled. And that was when the trouble had started.

Sakron sighed and looked up at the stone ceiling of the corridor. If only there was a way to get rid of the Resistance for good...

Wait. The Great Spirit's mouth curved upwards into a smile. There was one person that could be used to destroy the Resistance. Sure, he would require plenty of training, but the end result would be worth it.

Whirling around, Sakron dashed down an adjacent corridor past several rooms of empty bunks- their inhabitants participating in a drill- and stopped at a gleaming silver door at the end. After typing in a long, complicated code on the control panel affixed to the wall beside the door, it slid open with a hiss and admitted him inside.

The room was pure white, with frigistones installed throughout to keep a constant level of icy temperature. In the middle of the room was a crystal coffin with a single Toa, adorned with a Great Huna, lying inside.

Sakron lifted a lavender finger to the surface of the coffin and tapped gently, murmuring as he did so.

"Wakey wakey, Hikan..."


	3. Into the Unknown

**Chapter Two**

There was a short pause, Hikan's eyes fluttered open and shut like the wings of a butterfly, but eventually opened all the way and stayed there, at which Sakron grinned.

"Ah, you're awake! Good thing, too. I have a little, ah, _favour _to ask of you, Hikan."

Hikan frowned and spoke; surprised that he could even do so as the coffin had seemed to restrict speech as well as movement. Perhaps the evidently icy temperature had something to do with the waning of the coffin's powers.

"Er, who _are _you? And how do you know my name?" He moved his head to gaze at his unfamiliar surroundings. "And furthermore, where the Karzahni am I?"

Sakron smiled slightly at this. "Well, let me answer a few of those questions, though not in that exact order. I am Sakron-Nu, elite commander of the Great Spirit army. Secondly, you are in the Great Spirit fortress on the island of Metru Nui, though it has undergone some radical changes since you were last on it. And, thirdly, when your coffin washed up on our shores, your description and weapon matched that of a Toa we were told about by a bright orange Matoran that we encountered not soon after. Unfortunately, that particular Matoran died of unknown conditions soon after. We buried its body in an unmarked grave, and have not visited it since."

Hikan frowned. "Okay... what is this 'favour' you want me to do? Because I'm not a killer for hire, I'll have you know."

Sakron smiled. "Of _course_ you're not. We Great Spirits have plenty of assassins already at our disposal." He paused. "But first things first. I want to show you something."

Before Hikan could react, the lavender Great Spirit picked up a staff that looked the same as the one the Toa of Crystal clutched in his right hand- well, except for the eerie blue glow that emanated from the top.

Seeing Hikan's surprise, Sakron chuckled. "Impressed? We had Vulcan-Xa, one of our best smiths, come in here and construct a copy of your staff from just looking at the staff in your coffin- with a few modifications, of course, like a lighter weight and more destructive capabilities. In fact, the Great Spirits have the best smiths in the whole Grand Empire."

Before Hikan could ask what the Karzahni this Grand Empire (as he was itching to do), Sakron smiled. "I'll let you test it later. Right now, we've got to get you out of that coffin."

The elite commander suddenly turned around and rushed outside, where the door slid shut. Placing his finger on a small black plaque on the right side of the door, another control panel slid out of the wall; this time, a temperature controller.

Setting the temperature to as cold as it could go, Sakron heard silence from inside the room then a slow cracking sound as the coffin began to split into hundreds of pieces. Once he reasoned that the coffin had shattered enough so as not to restrict movement, he changed the temperature to warm and watched as Hikan stumbled out of the chamber and nearly fell to the floor.

As Sakron rushed to steady the Toa of Crystal, Hikan looked up at the Great Spirit with his icy blue eyes. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "I haven't had control of my legs for very long."

Sakron smiled warmly. "That's fine. You can hold onto my shoulder as we're walking. We're going to the lab now, as there's some things you need to pick up some things that will help you with your training."

_Training? _What _training? _wondered Hikan as he was led, stumbling, through the dimly-lit corridors to a large, pristine room filled with glass windows and cases that resembled the chamber in which his coffin had been. Sakron, having spotted a tall, intelligent-looking Great Spirit garbed in a white lab coat across the room, gently pushed aside Hikan's hand from his shoulder and strode across the metal floor to the scientist.

"Hello, Mercelia," Sakron greeted the female Great Spirit as he shook her pale blue hand. "I have someone to meet you today."

Mercelia raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? This wouldn't be another one of your blind dates, would it? Because the last one you sent me on made me nearly want to end it all by jumping into the energized protodermis vat..."

"No, no," Sakron hastily replied. "This time it's for something quite different." He gestured to Hikan, who was wobbling in a corner. "It's him."

It was at that exact moment that Hikan's legs gave way and he collapsed onto the floor in a heap.

Mercelia rolled her eyes. "A Toa that can't even stand up for five minutes? I don't work in miracles, you know."

Sakron sighed. "He's the one I've been talking to you about for months. You know, Project Crystal?"

All traces of mirth were immediately wiped from Mercelia's face. "Oh. Well then, I'd best get to work, shall I?"

She directed her gaze towards the Toa of Crystal in a heap on the floor. "First off, stability boosters, as Mr. Can't Stand Up over there appears to be in dire need of them."

The pale blue Great Spirit walked over to a nearby counter and retrieved a pair of silver rings with bright blue Lightstones set into them, which she slid onto Hikan's legs and waited until the specially configured protodermis formed to match the shape of his ankles. Within minutes, Hikan was up and staying up.

Mercelia smiled slightly. "Good. Now, his staff, which I presume you have already, Sakron."

Sakron nodded and handed the new staff to Hikan, explaining as he did so. "See that blue glow? That's from the Blue Lightstones embedded into the pincers of your staff. With them, you can unleash blue lightning and various other offensive and defensive attacks."

Hikan nodded and grabbed the staff while Mercelia and Sakron handed several other items to him such as a long sword made entirely of crystal, gauntlets that could be used to send and receive messages via hologram. Soon, Mercelia finished pressing technological innovations onto Hikan and led him over to a sleek silver transport that resembled a snowmobile with two long tubes filled with a murky green substance running from the front of the machine to the back.

"This is the transportation you'll be using for your training," explained Mercelia. "The six islands your instructors are on have been already programmed into its navigational system, so no need to worry. Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

Hikan raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? It looks uncomfortable..."

Mercelia sighed. "It's what we could afford with funding from the Great Beings, alright?" She paused suddenly. "Oh, and before I forget, the green stuff in the tubes is Phase Dragon blood. It'll allow you to pass through some obstacles like pillars or walls."

The Great Spirit technician shoved Hikan towards it. "Well, what are you waiting for? Hop on."

Hikan hopped on, and was soon speeding through a nearby tunnel out of the Great Spirit fortress and to his first destination, Ruba-Nui...


	4. Resistance

**Chapter Three**

Makuta brought his hammer down on the sheet of gold laid out on his anvil and grinned in satisfaction at the loud noise it created. The Great Spirit's forge was a stone's throw from the volcano on the island of Ruba-Nui, the island's only landmark besides its lush beaches. When the sun began to set, the vermilion glow from the sky-bound orb bathed the sands of Ruba-Nui in a beautiful red light, hence its nickname as the "Island of Sunset Sands".

Ruba-Nui was more than a vacation spot, however, even though its famous sunsets drew hundreds of visitors every year; it was also the second-largest producer in the smithing industry of the whole Grand Empire and the birthplace of one of the Empire's most famous smiths, Vulcan-Xa.

As the jet-hued Great Spirit wiped the sweat from his face, he glanced around his forge, which often seemed more like home to him than his modest little hut in the village not far from his current location. It was built into a crater where molten lava from an earlier eruption of the volcano had cooled and hardened, creating a shallow pit that, with the addition of a large stone building with a few openings in the walls for windows, had become Makuta's forge. In one corner was the fireplace and steel bucket, the latter laden with hot coals found in the area around the volcano. In another corner was a wooden pail of water used to clean the sweat and occasional clumps of ash that found their way onto his face, as well as helping cool off the hot metals he worked with. Makuta was a third-level smith, and although he was normally commissioned to forge pieces of armour and such, today he was working on a little project of his own.

Glancing around to make sure no-one else was watching through a window, Makuta took the sheet of gold and walked over to a securely locked wooden cupboard. Unlocking it with a silver key he produced from the Muaka-leather belt around his waist, the Great Spirit took out a Kanohi in the shape of a Kraahkan- except this one was gold instead of the usual black- and pressed the thin sheet of gold onto an uncovered part of the mask. Once he finished the mask, his brother would infuse the Kraahkan with energy; that had always been his specialty.

Suddenly, Makuta heard the sound of knocking coming from outside and hastily placed the Kraahkan back in the cupboard, locking it as he did so. The Hau-wearing Great Spirit walked over to the wooden door and opened it to find a snow-white Toa standing on his doorstep with a pleasant look on his face.

"Whaddya want, kid?" growled Makuta. "I'm busy. If ya want t' commission something, come back tomorrow."

The Toa raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Really? But I was told to come here."

Makuta snorted. "Oh, _really_? By who, your _conscience_?"

The Toa shook his head. "By someone named Sakron-Nu. I believe you've heard of him? He gave me this to show you." The Toa handed Makuta a pale blue piece of parchment.

As the Great Spirit cast his eyes over the piece of paper and its curved, graceful handwriting, he noticed a symbol resembling a triangle in the right-hand corner and nearly froze with shock. Yup, that was Sakron's symbol of office, alright. And if this was from Sakron...

The Toa standing in front of him must be none other than Project Crystal. Or, in other words, Toa Hikan of Metru-Nui.

Makuta glanced down at the parchment and then up at Hikan. The jet-skinned Great Spirit knew that Project Crystal was underway, but he had no idea Sakron would finish it _that _quickly.

"Uh, sure, I know him," grunted Makuta as he handed the parchment back to Hikan and started to walk back into the forge. "Come inside, kid."

As Makuta led Hikan into his forge, he turned to the Toa of Crystal. "So, kid, I'm Makuta, your first mentor. Today, I'm going to-"

"Makuta?" Hikan interrupted curiously. "But doesn't that mean you're evil?"

Makuta sighed. "That's another Makuta, kid. There's more than one of us, you know." He continued with his speech. "Today, I'm going to teach you the skill of Resistance, specifically to heat. You're going to need it when you start your stint in the army, especially if you're drafted to a camp in the Stone Archipelago north of here. We're in the Fire Archipelago right now, just to let you know."

Seeing Hikan nod, Makuta grinned and walked over to the steel bucket of coals. Removing a hot one, he handed it over to Hikan. "Here. See how long you can hold this."

Hikan nodded again and took the coal from Makuta's hand before dropping it onto the floor of the forge with a yelp. "That's hot!"

"Of course it is, kid," growled Makuta. "What'd you expect, snow?" He paused. "I see we've got some work to do."

Handing Hikan a slightly less hot coal from before, Makuta stood back and watched the Toa of Crystal practice.

-

Several hours (and many dropped coals later), Hikan had learned the skill of Heat Resistance to a satisfactory degree, according to Makuta. The Toa of Crystal could now hold very hot coals in his bare hands for ten minutes, survive the heat given off by extreme flame, and tap-dance on a red-hot piece of metal with his eyes closed. (Well, maybe not the last one, although Makuta certainly wished Hikan could.)

As soon as the training had ended, Makuta sent Hikan off to his next training location: Mele-Nui in the Air Archipelago.

-

Nahili reentered the Resistance's underground cavern located on a small islet off the coast of Metru Nui. The walls of the massive cavern were coated in a special kind of protodermis that made it virtually undetectable by means such as the Kanohi Iden. Scattered around the cavern were various crystal viewscreens and control panels, as well as a table in the middle with a map of the Grand Empire etched into its wooden face.

Gavron, Toa of Shadow and leader of the Resistance, glanced up at the Toa of Wood as she walked over to the control panel where he was now sitting.

"Hey, Nahili," he said, yawning, "Did you grab anything?"

Nahili nodded and produced the two sets of armour from behind her back, at which Gavron smiled.

"Great. Tanu can place them in the armory later. Where's Kora, by the way?"

Nahili flopped down into a chair. "Out spying. So, did you hear about the new project the Great Spirits are planning?"

Gavron nodded. "Yeah. It's called Project Crystal or something like that. No idea what it could be, though..."

Nahili smiled. "Well, that's what Kora's hoping to find out." She chuckled. "Tanu seems to be eagerly awaiting her return."

"Gee, I wonder why," said the Toa of Shadow, sniggering while he did so. "She can do so much better than that Toa of Stone, though. I mean, a _royal _should know the difference between a handsome suitor and a street urchin..."

Nahili shrugged. "Yeah, well, life's tough. Anyways, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

Gavron nodded and watched her go, before turning back to the control panel.

"Everyone else gets to sleep," he muttered under his breath. "But _no_, _I'm_ the leader, so _I _don't get to sleep. Perhaps they all figure that since I'm a Toa of Shadow I don't need any more darkness in my life..."

The Toa of Shadow sighed and continued fiddling with the control panel, glancing up at a crystal viewscreen as he did so.


	5. At Swords' End

**Chapter Four**

Hikan walked down a path in the woods on Mele-Nui. Night had fallen, and the sky was full of stars that glimmered like tiny diamonds cast across the indigo floor of the sky. After staying briefly in a small town on the coast where he had learned much about Mele-Nui, the Toa of Crystal had set off into the dark forest with only a lantern and his crystal sword for company. The rest he had left at the small inn he had visited, as the owner had claimed that the Swordmaster of Mele-Nui (whom Hikan would presumably receive training from) allowed only a sword and a lantern (the latter only if it was night) to be brought along to her cottage.

As the Toa of Crystal walked along the dirt paths through the woods, the lantern illuminating his way, he wondered if the rather suspicious-looking inhabitants of the inn were auctioning off the items he left behind. Deciding immediately that the thought of his precious belongings falling into the grubby hands of those, those _ruffians_ was extremely worrying, Hikan decided to review what he had learned about Mele-Nui and see if he could keep any other thoughts at bay.

Mele-Nui, he had learned, was located in the northeast corner of the Air Archipelago. It was fairly large, with a majestic pine forest being its sole landmark. The island's main exports were brews made with pine needles and fish caught on its shores, though the latter was rare and hardly worth it, as the Water Archipelago had far better- and far more numerous- varieties of fish. Other than that, the island's one claim to fame was its Swordmaster, who lived in the middle of the woods, and whose cottage Hikan was drawing closer to.

As Hikan approached the quaint cottage of the Swordmaster of Mele-Nui, he noticed a small stone path leading behind the cottage. Deciding not to notice it, the Toa of Crystal stepped forward and politely knocked on the wooden door on the front of the Swordmaster's home.

There was a soft pounding of steps on what appeared to be wooden floors, and then the door opened to reveal a tall, slender lime-green Great Spirit with copper-coloured eyes and a bemused look on her face.

"Why, hello there," she said, raising an eyebrow. "What can I help you with?"

Hikan blushed. "Oh, hi. I'm... uh, I'm..." He struggled with the words, as the Great Spirit in front of him was rather pretty.

The Great Spirit chuckled. "Let me guess. You want combat lessons from me, right? Well, come on in. My name's Vaedra, by the way," she added as she led Hikan through the door and into her humble abode. The two walked past various rooms including a dining room, kitchen and bedroom before ending up in a well-lit room Hikan guessed was the armory, judging by the rows of neatly-polished blades displayed on the walls. He went over to examine a particularly interesting one with a large violet gem set into the hilt and whose blade glowed with an eerie light.

Seeing Hikan's interested look, Vaedra sighed and hastily stepped in front of the sword. "We won't be using _that _sword today, I'm afraid." She handed him a rather rusty old sword with a tarnished brass hilt. "Now _this, _on the other hand..."

Hikan smiled politely and gently handed the sword back while withdrawing his crystal sword. "I'm sorry, miss, but I have my own blade, and would like to train with the sword I..."

Vaedra interrupted Hikan and put her hands on her hips as she glared icily at the Toa of Crystal. "You're going to use the sword I give you, as you won't always have that sword with you." She plucked the crystal sword from Hikan's hands and casually tossed it into a corner.

"You can't do that!" exclaimed Hikan, horrified. "It'll break!"

Vaedra snorted. "Don't worry. It won't break. Anyways, we've got to start training. I didn't give up my precious sleep for nothing, you know."

Hikan nodded and followed Vaedra out of the armory and outside to a dirt field that the Toa of Crystal realized was where the path he spotted earlier led to. Before he could think more about this, however, Vaedra pushed him onto the field and leapt over to the other side, withdrawing a sword of her own that had appeared seemingly out of thin air.

"Now," she said bluntly, "attack me."

Hikan looked confused at this, to which Vaedra sighed loudly. "I meant what I said. Attack me, Hikan."

The Toa of Crystal was slightly puzzled at how his mentor could know his name (he hadn't formally introduced himself, after all) but charged forward, sword at the ready.

Before he could register what was happening, he found himself flat on the ground, with Vaedra's sword pointed straight at his chest.

"You moved too fast," she said calmly. "Always take time to judge the surroundings and your opponent."

Hikan nodded and charged forward, this time going more slowly. However, it all went to waste because he ended up, yet again, on the ground.

"You moved too slowly," she stated, at which Hikan got up and glared furiously at the Great Spirit.

"Look, lady," he snarled, "all I want is to learn about combat from you and then head off to my next mentor. Is that so hard?"

Vaedra raised an eyebrow. "Well! Sakron certainly said you were special, but he never let on you were so irritable..." She paused then smiled slightly. "Alright, I suppose we _could _compress about a half-hour's worth of training into fifteen minutes..."

She regained her calm, focused posture. "But first, we've got to master this skill. Attack me again, and go at a _moderate _speed."

Hikan ran forward at a speed that was far more moderate than his first two attempts and, after performing an awkward spin in the air, hit Vaedra's shoulder at last.

However, his joy was short-lived when the lime-green Great Spirit calmly brushed off her shoulder and faced Hikan, ready for another round. "I've seen Muaka kittens hit harder, Hikan. Try again, and drop the aerial spin. It's just silly."

Hikan nodded, and prepared to attack Vaedra yet again.

-

An hour passed, and Vaedra stepped away from Hikan. The Great Spirit was panting slightly, and several dark green bruises adorned her body where Hikan's sword had come in contact with.

"Very good," she said softly. "Looks like you've got the hang of it by now. Remember that aerial spins are to only be executed when you're fighting an opponent that can't levitate, alright?"

Hikan nodded, and after waving goodbye to Vaedra, began the long journey back to the inn. Soon after, he was racing across the sky towards his third destination, Ventros-Nui...


	6. Conditioning

**Chapter Five**

The Ice Archipelago. Located in the northernmost area of the Grand Empire, it is home to artisans, hunters, philosophers, and more snow than you can shake a stick at (or several, for that matter).

And rising majestically out of the blowing snow of the archipelago is the Tower of Thought on Ventros-Nui, an artful work of crystal and silver that is home to some of the very best thinkers that the Grand Empire has ever produced, such as Sokrate, Delapto, and Aristan. However, Hikan had no idea of this as his transport landed smoothly on the stone dais outside the main entrance to the Tower and prompted the Toa of Crystal to hop off and begin walking towards the Tower, feet making crisp tracks in the powdery snow.

As soon as Hikan entered the atrium of the Tower of Thought, he stopped cold in his tracks to gaze, eyes wide open in awe, at the surroundings. Far above him was a massive crystal seemingly just hovering in the air, its many surfaces gleaming in the early morning light coming from the large windows placed throughout the atrium. Positioned directly below the crystal was a circular area filled with the open ends of pipes, their interiors letting off an eerie blue glow.

Hikan was rudely awoken from staring in awe at the sight above him by someone tapping him on the shoulder. Broken from his spell, the Toa of Crystal turned around dazedly to see a pale grey Great Spirit looking at him with pleasant blue eyes.

"Excuse me, sir?" asked the Great Spirit. "You're Hikan, right?"

Hikan nodded, his mind still occupied by the thought of the crystal, which seemed alluring in some way. "Uh, yeah, that's me. What's up?"

The Great Spirit raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to let you know that in the Tower of Thought, slang like that which you just used is not acceptable when used in speech. In fact, we normally don't allow speech at all, but for visitors such as yourself we make the rare exception."

The Toa of Crystal nodded at this, which made the Great Spirit smile. "Excellent, sir. Now, down to business. I was assigned to escort you to Chamber 75, where you will be mentored by one of our finest thinkers."

He began to walk off towards a row of steel doors to the left that Hikan just noticed now; the crystal had fully occupied his thoughts up until now, and as he hurried to catch up with the surprisingly fast pace of his escort, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that beams of light shot out of the pipes underneath the crystal and were absorbed by the crystal, making it glow pale blue.

As the Great Spirit tapped a button on a control panel next to the steel door nearest to the entrance, he briefly turned his head around to glance at Hikan. "My name's Suraka, by the way."

"Well, er... nice to meet you, Suraka," Hikan said nervously as the door slid open and the Great Spirit and Toa stepped inside. He was a little surprised at the briefness of Suraka's greeting, and realized that what went on in this tower was probably so important that they didn't have time to really care about being friendly.

As soon as they were inside, the door slid shut and there was a soft whirring noise as the square room Hikan and Suraka were in began moving upwards.

"We're in an elevator?!" Hikan exclaimed, at which his escort nodded. "That's correct. The reason this elevator isn't as noisy as one you might find elsewhere is due to the fact that loud noises distract our philosophers, so we modified the engines to produce a gentle noise that they don't mind at all."

The elevator ride went in silence afterwards for some time, until Hikan looked at Suraka. "Pardon me for asking, but what's with- I mean, could you explain what the crystal in the atrium is for?"

Suraka smiled. "Ah, that's a good question! When the Tower of Thought underwent some repairs after the hailstorm in the Archipelago ten years ago, a Great Spirit named Charonus was placed in charge of deciding what new features would be added. One of those was the crystal, which he claimed would strengthen the mental ability of the tower's inhabitants."

He glanced at Hikan. "Charonus- or Charo, as some call him- is quite a nice fellow, actually. You should meet him sometime."

Hikan nodded at this and, before he could ask any more questions, the door slid open to reveal a white corridor with accents of sky blue. As Suraka led Hikan down the hallway, he stopped at a glass door which gazed into a chamber where several white and grey Matoran were sitting in a circle with their eyes closed and hands clenched tight, a pipe similar to the one that comprised the area beneath the crystal leading out of one wall.

Seeing the Toa of Crystal's interested look, Suraka grinned. "That's one of our Meditation Rooms, where numerous Matoran, Toa and Great Spirits that use our building can come in order to focus their thoughts and consequently increase their mental ability."

"I see," muttered Hikan, but his gaze was focused on something else. "What's that pipe doing there?"

His escort smiled. "Er... that's air conditioning, I believe. Charonus installed those, too. No-one really knows what they do; I think they're just for decoration."

Suraka began to resume his brisk pace, which Hikan quickly caught up with. Something about those pipes made the Toa of Crystal suspicious, but he quickly dismissed it as nothing and followed Suraka into another room, where a tall, elderly-looking Great Spirit was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor.

The Great Spirit glanced up at Hikan with piercing green eyes, and the Toa of Crystal flinched as he felt his entire life exposed all for this mysterious person to see. Seeing Hikan's weakened expression, the Great Spirit's brow furrowed. "Hm. You need more training, judging by how you reacted to that little look. But that's what you're here for, isn't it? My name's Ciranas, by the way."

He gestured to a patch of floor across from him. After glancing over at Suraka for confirmation (who was nodding vigorously), Hikan walked cautiously over to the Great Spirit and sat down, crossing his legs as he did so.

Ciranas bit his lip. _This one is cautious, _he thought. _If he really is Project Crystal, his previous mentors must have been really hard on him for him to be like this. I'm guessing he had Vaedra, judging by the small amount of dirt clinging to his body, but I can't tell the other one. Perhaps Eladre or Aubrus? Hopefully not Makuta, though- I hope Sakron had the sympathy not to send him to that ill-tempered smith first, otherwise this may be more difficult than I first thought. _Smiling at his new pupil, Ciranas began to speak.

"Now, Hikan, you've come to Ventros-Nui for a very specific reason, and that reason is-"

"This won't involve swordfighting or hot coals, will it?" interrupted Hikan. "Because I've had _quite _enough of both of those for one day, thank you."

Ciranas winced. His greatest fear had just come true, for Makuta had painted a clear picture of the nightmarish tasks Hikan would have to endure next. And Ciranas did not enjoy teaching pupils that already had an idea of what they would be doing.

However, the ebony Great Spirit dismissed these thoughts and smiled reassuringly. "Oh no, we're going to be doing something _much _different." He looked at Hikan and smiled again. "Close your eyes and concentrate, please."

The Toa of Crystal did so, and closed his eyes just as Ciranas began to speak again, this time in a soft, lulling voice. "Now try and sense where I am in this room."

Hikan screwed his eyes shut and mentally probed the room to try and sense the Great Spirit's location. However, instead of focusing merely on Ciranas, he felt a surging wave of locations of many other philosophers on this floor pass through his mind, though many were hazy and unreadable. Eventually, the information was too overwhelming, and he snapped his eyes open.

"Well," Ciranas asked calmly, clearly expecting decent results (at best), "what did you sense? What I'm teaching you here is called the Awareness, by the way."

To the Great Spirit's surprise, Hikan frowned. "I'm not really sure. I could sense where many other philosophers on this floor were, though some of them were hard to see."

Seeing Ciranas freeze and adopt a shocked expression, the Toa of Crystal looked at his mentor curiously. "Is there something wrong?"

Ciranas regained his composure and smiled nervously. "Er, no, there's nothing at all wrong. Why do you ask?"

However, despite the Great Spirit's calm exterior, inside he was in awe of Hikan's abilities. _Mata Nui! I had no idea he would be _this _skilled._

Before Hikan could reply, Ciranas spoke again. "Well, it looks as if we can continue to lesson number three, seeing as you appear to have gotten the gist of this already. Now, close your eyes again..."

-

Several hours later, Ciranas got up from his position on the floor and warmly smiled at his pupil. The Toa of Crystal seemed to have a natural gift for harnessing the Awareness, which the Great Spirit felt would likely help him in the future.

"Excellent work, Hikan. You have been dismissed."

Casually nodding at his mentor, Hikan left the room and, after meeting up with Suraka, was escorted by the grey Great Spirit out of the building. Before long, Hikan was zooming through the skies once again.

-

The familiar blue glow of the Lightstones mounted on the sleeping area's walls woke Nahili from her peaceful slumber. Rising from her bunk in the small cavern adjacent to the far larger one used for strategic operations in the Resistance's base, the Toa of Wood headed into the eating cavern, where she found Kora staring sleepily into a cup of tea.

"Hey," greeted Nahili as she grabbed a handful of Bula berries from the fruit box and sat down across from Kora at the scratched wooden table, popping one of the bright green fruit into her mouth as she did so. "How was your sleep?"

The Toa of Thunder looked up with weary cobalt eyes. "Short and restless. What about yours?"

Nahili chuckled. "Late-night scouting will do that to you. Anyways, my sleep was excellent." She paused and fixed Kora with a curious look. "So, find anything interesting out?"

Kora nodded. "Actually, I did, though I'm not telling anyone but Gavron. He asked me to." A dreamy look started to appear in the Toa of Thunder's eyes. "Do you know where Tanu is?"

"I..." Nahili paused abruptly and spoke to Kora in the way that a mother might do to a daughter. "Look, Kora. Are you sure Tanu's the one for you? I mean, there's plenty more available Toa out there, and many of them are of higher caliber than a street urchin."

Kora sighed. "I know, alright? Don't start making decisions for me, as you've never experienced true love and I don't see you doing so anytime soon."

The Toa of Wood's mouth turned into a snarl. _"Take that back."_

"Make me," retorted Kora. Nahili, evidently figuring out that arguing over such a trivial matter was useless, sighed and popped another Bula berry in her mouth. "I was in love once too, you know."

"Really?" asked Kora, at which the Toa of Wood nodded. "He was a Toa of Sonics from my homeland. It wasn't a happy relationship, though. We fought a lot."

Her hands curled into fists. "And when those meddlesome Great Spirits came and turned our homeland into a slag heap, he vanished without a trace. I felt furious at first that he abandoned me, but I soon came to realize that I was better off without him anyways."

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps from behind Kora, and both Toa looked up to see a tall, athletic-looking Toa of Stone standing there.

"Hey guys," Tanu said, grinning at Kora. "Just wanted to let you know that Gavron's called a meeting in the main cavern in a couple of minutes."

Nahili nodded, at which the sandy brown Toa walked off. Kora looked back at him as he left, then headed off to attend the meeting with Nahili following suit.


	7. Plans

**Chapter Six**

Hikan's travels had taken him to the island of Dexon-Nui, located in the Earth Archipelago. The Earth Archipelago was famous for the precious stones mined within its subterranean caverns, and Dexon-Nui was no exception.

However, Hikan wasn't here for precious stones, as the Toa of Crystal stepped onto a lift that would take him far below the sparsely-populated surface of the island. Within minutes, he strode out of the sleek metal elevator and headed down a dark passageway dotted with Lightstones, squinting at the directions a Matoran aboveground had given him in the faint yellow light.

"Hmm... turn right at that tunnel, and then head east," Hikan murmured. He was so focused on the piece of parchment in his hand that before he could register what happened, he had walked straight into a Matoran miner wearing a violet Miru.

The Matoran glared at Hikan with burning orange eyes. "Whaddya think you're _doing?!_" he barked. "You wanna get me _killed_?" He eyed the Toa of Crystal with suspicion. "You new here, kid?"

Hikan nodded and stepped away from the cantankerous miner, hands raised apologetically. "Sorry about that. I was looking at these, and—"

"Don't worry about it, kid," grunted the miner. "Who are you looking for, anyways?"

Hikan glanced down at the paper, then up at the Matoran. "His name's Aubrus. Would you happen to know where he is?"

The miner nodded. "Sure. Aubrus' the Supervisor for this part of the tunnel network, anyways." Seeing Hikan's confused look, the Miru-wearing Matoran rolled his eyes. "All the islands in this archipelago are connected by a series of tunnels that run deep below the surface."

He looked up at Hikan and raised an eyebrow. "Are you really that thick not to know that?"

"Uh..." Hikan blushed with embarrassment, at which the miner grinned. "Never mind, kid. I'm just pulling yer leg. If you want to find Aubrus, go down the tunnel to your left and then take a sharp right."

Hikan nodded in gratitude and continued walking down the tunnel, while the miner snorted and got back to work.

-

Aubrus stood on a platform that overlooked a large mining area and watched the Matoran below work. He was a powerfully-built Great Spirit, with skin tanned dark sienna from working in the quarries on another island in the archipelago. To keep the underground environment to which he had been promoted several years ago from lessening his tan, Aubrus took great care in going out into the blazing sun and hauling rocks for about an hour each day.

Suddenly, the Great Spirit turned around to see a dark brown Matoran wearing a Hau and clutching a pickaxe- a miner, Aubrus assumed- in one hand run up to him.

"Supervisor," he said, going into a deep bow. Aubrus raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" he asked, a hint of impatience in his voice. This miner had better make his message short, as the Matoran in Tunnel Sector 51 were going to excavate the remains of a Fader Bull they found while digging and he wanted to watch.

"A Toa's arrived, sir," stammered the miner, out of breath from running, "and he's requested that he sees you."

Aubrus frowned. Toa were uncommon on Dexon-Nui, though there were a few of his workers that were Toa. (Of course, they had been stripped of their Great Kanohi and elemental powers to ensure they couldn't cause any trouble.) Perhaps this Toa was a new recruit to his area of the tunnels?

"Did he say what his name was?" Aubrus asked the Matoran, walking off to survey part of the site below.

The Matoran nodded. "His name is Hikan, sir."

Aubrus froze, then whirled around and stared at the worker, his voice practically at a bellow. "_What?_"

"Hikan, sir," replied the miner timidly, starting to back into a wall fearfully. "Now that I have delivered my message, sir, may I be excused to my duties?"

Aubrus nodded distractedly, his mind already in another time and place. "Uh, sure. You go do that." As soon as the Matoran had departed, Aubrus muttered to himself.

"Hikan? _Already? _The others must've been quick..." He had no more time to think about this, as a snow-white Toa emerged from the entrance the miner had just walked into.

"Oh. Are _you _Aubrus?" the Toa asked with uncertainty in his voice, at which Aubrus grinned. "That's me. Your name is?"

"Hikan," the Toa responded, which caused Aubrus to grin even wider. "Great! Now," he said, gesturing to their surroundings, "can you guess what I'm going to be teaching you today?"

Hikan paused. "Mining?"

Aubrus laughed. "Close enough, kid. In fact, today you're gonna learn all about Lightstones."

The Toa of Crystal frowned and began to reply "Oh, but I don't really think I need to learn about..." but Aubrus waved it away with one of his muscled hands. "Nonsense. There's _plenty _to learn about Lightstones."

"Now," he said, picking up a cloth bag that had appeared out of thin air and withdrawing a bright crimson stone, "do you know what this is?"

Hikan shook his head, at which the jet-skinned Great Spirit grinned. "That's a Red Lightstone, the lowest-level variety of Lightstones. It's low on power, but also handy for offense. Remember that. Catch!"

Aubrus tossed the Lightstone to Hikan, who jumped up to catch it but missed. "Moving on," he continued, procuring orange and yellow stones from the bag. "Now, these are Orange and Yellow Lightstones, a little higher up than Red. Orange help with shielding and Yellow are your basic Lightstone, illumination, lighting; yada, yada, yada. Got all this so far?"

Hikan nodded, at which Aubrus smiled. "Now, I'm not going to throw these to you this time, because based on that first attempt your catching could use a little work. Anyways," he said, taking out an emerald specimen, "these are the Green variety. They work well with healing, and produce a glowing green liquid when crushed and mixed with water."

"Now, Blue Lightstones," he continued, taking a brilliant azure stone from the bag, "are great for offense. They're decent at shielding, but you'd want an Indigo one for really good shielding and a little bit of healing on the side."

"And the last one..." Aubrus bent down so that he was facing Hikan. "Can you keep a secret?" he whispered.

Hikan nodded, at which Aubrus glanced around and took out a glittering purple stone out. "The last ones are Violet Lightstones, which are very powerful in all respects- offense, defense, healing; you name it, it's got it, and at maximum capacity too. The thing is, the general population of the Grand Empire- Matoran, Toa and Turaga, that is- doesn't know about these. These are what make us Great Spirits so powerful, by making our weapons out of them and using them to power our equipment. Some say four legendary objects exist made out of them, but those are just myths."

"Well," Aubrus said loudly, quickly placing the Violet Lightstone back in the bag and standing up, "I think that's all the time we have for today. Good luck, son, and remember your Blue Lightstones from your Red Lightstones; you never know when that knowledge could come in handy. Anyways, time for you to leave!"

-

Ten minutes later, Hikan had returned to the surface and shot off into the sky.

-

Nahili entered the meeting cavern, a moderately-large space adjacent to the armoury and eating area that was illuminated by the glow of two Orange Lightstones in brackets on the walls. At the front of the room was a carved rectangular stone platform with four runes on its sides, on which Gavron now stood.

As the other three members of the Resistance took their seats in the uncomfortable wooden chairs placed before the platform, Gavron took a deep breath. The report given to him by Kora had been very revealing, and he had been up for the greater portion of the night figuring out what to do with the information given within it.

"Comrades," he began, hitting an old metal gong that had been recovered from another island to capture the attention of the other Toa, "I have received a report from Kora that has caused me to have much thought over the information detailed within it."

Kora beamed, at which Gavron smiled and continued. "The report reveals that Project Crystal, which we assumed up to this point was some sort of powerful weapon, is actually something very shocking- a Toa."

Tanu and Nahili raised their eyebrows, while Kora let out a small gasp. Gavron did not notice his teammates' reactions and thus went on. "This Toa has reportedly been assigned several mentors to teach him various skills, presumably to transform him into the ultimate soldier for the Empire's army."

The Toa of Shadow paused for dramatic effect. "And that is why, my fellow Toa and comrades against the Great Spirits, that I have decided...

We are going to kidnap Project Crystal."


	8. Departures

Hey there. This is the next chapter. I apologize for it being so short, but I couldn't think of anything to tack on that wouldn't ruin the ending. (You'll find out what I'm talking about when you read the chapter.) So, enjoy!

**Chapter Seven**

Nahili, Tahu and Kora stared in shock at Gavron. There was a stunned silence for quite some time, which Nahili eventually broke.

"Right," she snorted, leaning back in her chair. "And tell me, O Great Leader, how are we going to kidnap Project Crystal? We have no idea of what powers this Toa possesses. For all we know, he could be indestructible!"

"Nahili's right," chimed in Kora, at which Gavron sighed. "Yes, I know he's powerful, though if we catch him by surprise he won't have time to use any of his powers."

Ignoring the confused looks on his comrades' faces, Gavron continued his presentation.

"Now, here's what I want all of you to do..."

-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE JUST _VANISHED?!" _

Sakron cowered in fear from behind his desk at the enraged cerulean Great Spirit that was glaring at him through the video link.

"He vanished," the lavender Great Spirit said weakly. "He vanished, Eladre, and there's nothing we can do about it. You see,--"

Eladre sighed. "Alright, I forgive you. I was going to teach Hikan about stealth, but I suppose I'll just have to wait until you get him back."

As the video link faded, Mercelia came up from behind Sakron and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't feel miserable, Sakron," she said softly. "There was nothing you could do, anyways."

The army commander sighed and spun around in his chair. "I know that, Mercelia," he replied, "but I'm still worried about Hikan. I mean, how could he have vanished into thin air? At least, that's what the tracking device on his vehicle showed..."

Mercelia nodded and walked over to a large black screen divided into squares by white crisscrossing lines. "According to the tracking system, he was about five miles from Aquos-Nui when he vanished."

She looked over at Sakron. "I'll check with Aquina—she's the leader of the Empire Patrol, remember?—and see if there's anything that can tell us more about why Hikan disappeared."

Sakron nodded absentmindedly, already thinking of other matters. "Sure, why not. Have a good time." As Mercelia left, he began to trace the outline of a female Great Spirit on the pristine white surface of his desk.

-

Hikan awoke groggily to find himself in darkness. He tried to move his arms and legs, but found them constricted by bands of thick shadow. Before he could try to remove them, however, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, and quickly lay still.

He could hear the sound of a wooden door creaking open, and soon after there was a rectangle of light at the far side of the room that almost blinded the Toa of Crystal with its glaring brightness. The light faded, and Hikan saw two Toa, one as black as night and the other a greenish-brown, looking down at him.

"Sorry about the darkness," said the black Toa, smiling. "I should really have had the Lightstones activated." He offered a hand. "My name's Gavron. What's yours?"

"Hikan," answered the Toa of Crystal as he gazed around at his surroundings- or at least that part he could see, anyways. "Where am I?"

Gavron smiled again, which Hikan noticed seemed slightly creepy. "You're in a base just off an island. Don't worry, you're in good hands." He gestured to the greenish-brown Toa, whom Hikan now realized was female. "This is Nahili, by the way."

Nahili looked at Hikan as if he reminded her of someone, at which point Gavron spoke again. "We're going to leave now, but don't worry. Food should be arriving shortly."

Then the Toa of Shadow turned around and exited the chamber, with Nahili trailing behind. However, just as she was about to leave the room, she turned to see Hikan once more, and silently gasped at who he resembled.

_Mata Nui... _Nahili thought in awe, her expression softening as she looked at Hikan. _He looks just like Krakua..._

Then her expression hardened, and the Toa of Wood left the chamber right behind Gavron.


	9. Complications

**Chapter Eight**

Sakron was awoken from his daydreaming by a gentle tap on the shoulder. Opening his eyes and turning around in his chair, the Great Spirit was greeted by Mercelia and another female Spirit, this time a brilliant aqua.

"Hey," acknowledged Sakron as he looked at the aqua Spirit with a smile. "You're Aquina, right?"

Aquina rolled her eyes. "Introductions are hardly necessary. We've met plenty of times already." Sakron grinned at this.

"Oh, come on. Surely we can recreate that magic moment when we first met?" he said, smiling. Aquina snorted.

"Our first meeting was over overcooked Kane-Ra. Hardly romantic, if you ask me. Now," she said as she strode over to a screen, "if you've ceased trying to woo me, can we please get down to business?"

Sakron nodded, the smile vanishing instantly from his face. "Right," he mumbled. Aquina launched into a speech, taking out a silver rod and tapping it against various parts of the screen in succession.

"Concerning Project Crystal, Rhodius, my main scout for the Water Archipelago, noticed the subject moving through Neptune Bay on Sideon-Nui before a large thundercloud moved overhead, obscuring the subject from sight. It was here that the subject—"

"Hang on," interrupted Sakron, "why aren't we referring to the subject as Hikan? He does have a name, after all?"

Aquina turned to the lavender Great Spirit and smiled at him in a way that said 'zip it, pal'. "We are referring to the subject as the subject to maintain an emotional detachment from the subject in question so as to improve the quality of our performance. If you had actually _read_ the Manual of Codes and Conduct back in our training days, you would know that. Now," Aquina said with a dangerous glint in her eyes, "shall we continue? Or do you have any more pointless questions to ask, _Ronnie_?"

"Hey!" objected Sakron from his chair. "You know I don't like that nickname, Aquina!" He glared at the aqua Great Spirit. "Or should I say, _Quinnie_?"

"Guys," said Mercelia hastily from her position out of the line of fire, "can we just get on the task at hand? Fighting and bickering isn't going to get us anywhere."

"You're right, Mercelia," muttered Sakron, who slumped back in his chair as Aquina smirked at him and continued. "Anyways, as I was saying—" she shot a glance at Sakron here "—it was here, on Neptune Bay, that the subject vanished to a currently unknown location. It is that location that we are hoping to discover."

"Now, here are some of my suggestions for how to approach this situation..."

-

Nahili lay in her bed, trying to rest after the events of the previous few hours. The mission to capture Hikan had taken a lot out of the Toa of Wood, and she intended to reclaim as much of it as possible with some sleep.

However, the appearance of the Resistance's latest prisoner had set thoughts swirling in Nahili's head; thoughts that had long since been dormant yet begging for release...

-  
_  
"Hey, Krakua," greeted Nahili as she walked towards the Toa of Sonics. "How are things?" _

Krakua smiled as his grey Huna shone in the mid-morning sunlight. "Oh, same old, same old," he said, chuckling. Then he placed a hand around the Toa of Wood's shoulders and smiled.

"And how are you, dear?" he asked, the hand squeezing the right shoulder a little. Nahili laughed.

"Just fine, Krakua," she answered, "but you might want to consider not squeezing my shoulder as hard next time. You know how it is."

"Right," said Krakua, chuckling as he looked out at the sun. "So, you probably know that I called you here for an important reason, and that reason is—"

"Toa Krakua! Toa Nahili!" exclaimed the Matoran that was running up to them. "A swarm of Nui-Rama has attacked the village on the east coast, and Turaga Cernox requests your help immediately!"

Krakua sighed and withdrew his gleaming silver sword, which almost immediately let off a sonic hum. "Shall we deal with this, Nahili?"

The Toa of Wood nodded in response, and so the two set off running towards the jungle.

-

Nahili smiled as she fondly recalled those memories. It was after that episode that Krakua, having had his mask knocked off by a Nui-Rama, had donned the grey Suletu which he had worn for the rest of their time together.  
It was the Huna which Krakua had previously worn that reminded Nahili so much of her former Toa partner when she first saw Hikan, and although he likely wasn't going to fulfill the same role in her life that Krakua did, she could still care for him, at least a little.

Smiling, the Toa of Wood got up from her bed and began to head towards the corridor in which Hikan's room was. She had some work to do.

---

Yes, I know I'm inventing a totally unofficial backstory for Krakua, but it's MY backstory, and things may be different. (This takes place in a slightly different universe than Bionicle canon, so it can be forgiven. Yay for retcon! dances)


	10. Familiar Faces

**Chapter Nine**

Hikan looked up from his game of 'spot-the-interesting-formations-on-the-walls' to see Nahili enter his chamber.

"Hello, Hikan," the Toa of Wood said softly, though Hikan could detect an undercurrent of some other emotion running throughout Nahili's voice.

"Erm, hello," Hikan replied nervously. Even though his captors seemed pleasant, there was no telling what they could do to him. To his relief, Nahili just walked towards him without a weapon in sight. (Although he wasn't sure if Nahili's element, whatever it was, could be summoned without a Toa tool...)

"Hikan," she said again with the same soft tone. "I'm here to tell you something. A long time ago, I was in love with a Toa of Sonics named Krakua, and he was in love with me."

She shifted her feet uncomfortably while Hikan looked on with a confused look. "The thing is, you—"

"Ah, Nahili!" called a voice from behind the two Toa. Nahili turned around to see that it was Gavron.

"Great minds seem to think alike, don't they?" said the Toa of Shadow, grinning from behind his ebony Hau.

"What are you talking about, Gavron?" asked Nahili, who now sported the same look of confusion Hikan wore. Gavron smiled.

"Interviewing Hikan, of course! Don't tell me you didn't think of that as well," he said, smiling.

"Er..." Nahili said doubtfully. Gavron rolled his eyes and got right down to business.

"So, Hikan," Gavron said as he walked towards the Toa of Crystal, "I just have a few things to ask you. Is that okay?"

Hikan nodded, at which Gavron launched into a series of questions. "First off, could you tell me how you got to Metru-Nui?"

"Er..." said Hikan, raising an eyebrow. "I was born here." Gavron snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous! The city of Metru-Nui was demolished more than hundred years ago! How could someone your age manage to be born _here?_" he said, chuckling. Then he turned to Nahili.

"Do you really think he was born here?" he asked in a whisper. Nahili shrugged. "I'm not sure. He could mean that he was created in a laboratory, though."

Gavron raised an eyebrow and turned back to Hikan, a smile on his face. "Good! Very good answer. Now, how did you—"

"Hold on," interrupted Hikan, his eyes starting to show a revelation of some sort. "I remember now! There-there was Artahka, and then there were these people called the Jury of Time, and then there was this crystal coffin, and these two people were mentioning placing me in the sea around the Great Spirit fortress..."

He looked up to see Gavron whispering to Nahili. "_Clearly _delusional," muttered Gavron. "Somehow, this Toa just doesn't seem cut out to be a super-soldier..."

"Do you think we have the wrong one?" asked Nahili with concern. Gavron shrugged.

"Beats me. But I think we should keep him just in case. Who knows, maybe the Great Spirits placed all their real information deep inside his mind or something." Then he looked over at Hikan.

"Well, Hikan, that's all the time I have for today. See you when dinner's served!"

Gavron departed, with Nahili following closely behind.

-

Sakron stood in the cafeteria of the Great Spirit fortress. The meeting with Aquina and Mercelia had started to get boring, so he had discreetly slipped away to get a snack. The only problem was that there were at least five people in front of him in the line, which was a bit of an issue considering the lavender Great Spirit was starting to get hungry.

Sakron casually leant against the frosted glass barrier that separated the workers (primarily Toa with their elements intact and special bracelets to keep their powers in check) from the customers. The latest of these, a mahogany-toned Spirit, was paying for his meal with what Sakron recognized as a credit stick.

"Thought those were only available to Alpha level and up..." he muttered as he surveyed the silver, smooth-edged rectangle. The way the credit stick worked is that it contained a set number of credits (a step higher than widgets and, in Sakron's opinion, better looking) that you could use to buy anything you wanted.

If you used the credit stick too much and went into debt, however, the Finance Division would hunt you down, with often tragic results. Sakron had once known a fellow member of the Army that had become excited when he received his credit stick and immediately spent all of his credits on a lavish vacation to Ruba-Nui. Sakron hadn't heard from him since, and he sincerely doubted that he was anywhere as pleasant as Ruba-Nui.

"What?" said the Great Spirit as he turned around to look at Sakron. Sakron shrugged, said "Oh, nothing," and continued to wait in line.

Fifteen minutes later, Sakron was the next customer to be served, with a relatively long line already forming behind him. Pulling out a handful of the material form of credits, silver discs (Sakron, unlike some people, only used his credit stick when necessary), he placed them on the counter and waited for the Toa of Air manning the counter to count them.

After a few seconds of counting, the Toa looked up at Sakron with a firm look in his eyes. "You're one short."

"_Look, _buddy," said the next person in line, "can't you see that this fella here is a Commander of the army? How dare you tell him he's short of credits when he could kick you from here to the Ice Archipelago in seconds flat?"

The Toa gritted his teeth. "Fine," he muttered, dropping the credits into the coin box on his side of the counter. "What'll you have?"

"One Kane-Ra steak, medium rare, with a light Bula berry basting and a few grilled strips of Takea on the side," said Sakron without a pause.

The Toa nodded. "Coming up, _sir,_" he said, almost hissing. Minutes later, he returned with the Great Spirit's order.

"Here you are, sir," said the Toa of Air, practically tossing the protodermis tray into Sakron's hands.

"Hold on," objected Sakron as he stared at the contents of the tray, "this isn't what I ordered!"

The Toa ignored him and called out. "Next customer, please!" He raised an eyebrow as the person that had spoken up earlier- now, Sakron could see, a tall Great Spirit with amber eyes and dark black skin- stepped up to the counter. "Oh no, not _two_ of these in the same day..."

"Yeah, well, tough," replied the Great Spirit. "You didn't give my friend here what he wanted when he asked- _very politely_, I might add- for it, and all because of a stupid one-credit difference?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a punishable offence... I'd say maybe ten, twelve months in the quarries?"

The Toa's eyes lit up in fury as he leapt forward, his hands glowing as he planned to summon a massive tornado.

"You think you're so much better than us," he snarled angrily. "Well you're not. You can't just order us around whenever you please, you stupid Kraata! We're people too, you know, and I'm going to show you just what I mean—"

He gave out a sharp gasp as the power bracelet around his ankle glowed with its red light, and immediately fell to the floor in a heap, gasping from the burning sensation it produced.

The Great Spirit made a disapproving noise with his tongue as two other Spirits picked up the Toa and carried him off. "He should really learn to respect his superiors next time... if he doesn't die freezing his Kanohi off in a prison in the Ice Archipelago, that is."

The outspoken Toa was immediately replaced by a meek-looking Toa of Water, who followed Sakron's order to the letter and returned with a full protodermis tray as well as a bag of credits.

Sakron nodded to the Toa, who nodded nervously in response and took the order of the next person standing in line. The lavender Great Spirit went to sit down at one of the many rectangular tables placed throughout the cafeteria.

Once Sakron had sat down, however, he suddenly realized that where he was sitting now was the exact same place he and Aquina had first met.

A smile crept across Sakron's face. He could remember it almost as if it was yesterday...

-

_Sakron stood anxiously in line and watched the burly-looking Great Spirit in front of him pay for his meal with a credit stick. Sakron himself was only Gamma level in the Army, so he couldn't get a credit stick yet, He was waiting for when he could get one, though._

_After paying for his meal with a handful of credits, Sakron took the protodermis tray with his food on it to a nearby table and sat down. He began to eat his overcooked Kane-Ra strips silently; the Great Spirit knew better than to object to the quality of the food, seeing as the last person in the Gamma division that had done so had never been heard from again._

"_Hey," called a voice from above him. "Can I sit here?"_

_Sakron looked up to see an attractive-looking aqua Great Spirit standing on the other side of the table._

"_Uh, sure," he said, picking absentmindedly at his food. The aqua Spirit smiled and sat down across from Sakron._

"_Hi," she said. "My name's Aquina. I'm from the Ice Archipelago. What's your name?"_

"_Sakron. I'm from the Earth Archipelago," he responded. Aquina nodded in response and promptly began to eat the grilled Takea on her tray. After a few bites, she made a face that seemed to suggest she more than disagreed with the cafeteria's cooking._

"_Ugh," she said, taking a large sip of Bula berry juice to drown out the disagreeable taste of the fish. "The food here isn't very good, is it?"_

_Sakron looked at her in horror. "Don't say that too loud!" he hissed. "The last person that complained about the food was, well—"_

"_Never heard from again?" replied Aquina, with a twinkle in her eyes. "How do you _know_ they were brutally tortured or something like that? Maybe they were just assigned to kitchen duty."_

_And with that, the aqua Great Spirit proceeded to stand up and make her way to the counter, which was presently devoid of any customers, and start to converse with the Toa of Ice manning the counter._

_Sakron groaned and covered his eyes with his hands, not wanting to see what would happen next._

"_She seemed like such a nice person, too..." he whispered._

"_Thanks for the compliment, Sakron!" called a voice from beyond the safety of his covered eyes. He removed his hands to see that it was Aquina."_

_Sakron was dumbfounded. "But—how—" _

_Aquina smiled and set down another tray._

"_Turns out that the Great Spirit you were talking about was merely sent to the Complaints Division and given a free meal. Afterwards, he was sent on a mission to some remote island and died there. Nothing sinister involved."_

"_But isn't being abruptly sent to a remote island to die after complaining sinister?" pointed out Sakron._

_Aquina rolled her eyes. "No, it's not. He died of natural causes; food poisoning, I believe. If he hadn't complained, that food he was eating could have caused the exact same effect in a short time and then you have one less soldier in the army."_

_She chuckled at Sakron's bewildered nature. "It's just politics, Sakron. I'm surprised you actually made it into the Army if you know squat about politics."_

"_Well," Sakron retorted, "do you think the schools on Zara-Nui had any time to focus on _politics_? We were too busy learning how to lift rocks instead."_

"_Oh, right," said Aquina with a smile, though Sakron wasn't sure if there was another emotion hidden behind it. "Well, it was interesting talking to you, Sakron. Perhaps we'll meet again sometime."_

"_Yeah." And with that, Aquina was gone. Sakron, on the other hand, continued to eat his over-cooked Kane-Ra quietly._

-

"Hey! You there!"

A pleasant-sounding voice woke Sakron from his bout of nostalgia. Turning around, he could see it was the Great Spirit from earlier.

"Hey," said the dark black Spirit with a smile, "can I sit here? All the other tables are full."

Sakron nodded, at which the Great Spirit sat down. "My name's Charonus. What's yours?"

"Sakron. Nice to meet you, Charonus," added Sakron as he shook Charonus' hand. Almost immediately, Charonus smiled.

"Oh, so _you're _Sakron! I believe we have the same friend," he said, smiling again.

"Er..." said Sakron, evidently confused. "Who?"

"Mercelia, of course!" replied Charonus. "She said that you set me and her up on a blind date. I had a great time."

"Really?" replied Sakron, recalling that Mercelia had clearly _not _enjoyed her most recent blind date. Charonus nodded.

"Yeah. I think she had a good time, too. At least that's what she said... Anyways, if she wants to do it again, just let me know, alright?"

"Sure..." Sakron, still dazed as to what this Charonus had just said, made no effort at movement as the latter Great Spirit promptly left the cafeteria.

_Did Mercelia _really _have a horrible time on that blind date with Charonus? Or is she just not telling me something? _Sakron wondered.

Shrugging, the lavender Great Spirit picked up his tray, deposited the remains of his meal into a nearby receptacle, and made his way back to the meeting.

---

I must say, this chapter was really enjoyable to write, especially in the dialogue between Sakron and Aquina. I also got to display exactly how most of the Toa under Great Spirit rule feel about their situation.

Reviews?


	11. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

**Chapter Ten**

Sakron entered his office to find Mercelia and Aquina standing there with their arms crossed.

_Oh dear, _he thought to himself. _This can't be good._

"Sakron," Aquina said in a voice that, if it were wine, would be delicate with hints of 'I'll rip your arms out'. "Where were you for the last twenty-two minutes?"

"Having lunch," he said, then, realizing this was probably not the best answer, spoke again. "Um… I was in a meeting… and I met Charonus, Mercelia! He says he knows you!"

He rubbed his neck while laughing nervously. "Small world, huh?"

"That's beside the point," Mercelia said, gesturing at a screen. "We've been trying to locate Project Crystal, and we can't access the necessary files."

"And whose password is needed to open the files?" Aquina said, smiling dangerously.

Sakron squirmed. "I—"

"That was a rhetorical question. Now, get to work. And the next time you decide to go for a lunch break, don't try and pass it off as something significant."

As Aquina began examining maps, Sakron dragged himself over to his desk, sat down in a chair and entered his password with an air of resignation.

"I really need another guy around here…"

--

As strange as his captivity had been thus far, Hikan decided, this took the cake.

He was seated in a chair at a table eating a meal of grilled Kane-Ra with Bula juice. That wasn't what was strange.

What _was_ strange was who he was sharing it with.

"Shouldn't I be back in my bed or something?" he stammered as he glanced at the Resistance members at the table. Gavron, who was sitting directly across from him at the head of the table with a glass of Bula wine, smiled.

"Nonsense, Hikan. You are a guest, after all, and deserve to be treated as such. Besides, we are all Toa, are we not?"

"Well, yes," Hikan admitted, "but—"

The Toa of Shadow raised a hand. "Don't be so humble. You know our plight; we suffer from the same oppression as you do. I once worked in the quarries of Dexon-Nui. You've been there. You've seen what they have to go through."

"Did all of you meet there?" Hikan asked, sipping from the bright green contents of his glass. "In the quarries, I mean?"

Gavron shook his head. "Nahili here came from a far-off island in the Air Archipelago. Kora was the princess of Sotora-Nui, a race of Matoran that had some control over electricity. Tanu lived on the streets of Gyra-Nui and met Nahili there. He had a friend who joined. She—"

He caught Tanu's eye and paused. "Well, that's another story. Are you enjoying your meal?"

Hikan nodded and drained his glass. Gavron glanced at the Toa of Wood that sat on his left side.

"Could you refill our friend's glass? Thank you, Nahili."

Nahili stood up, took Hikan's glass, and carried it over to the preparation counter. With her back turned to the table, she filled the glass again, but added a few drops of a similarly-coloured liquid from a vial in the belt around her waist.

"Here you go, Hikan," she said after returning to the table and handing the Toa of Crystal his glass, ignoring the raised eyebrows of Kora and Tanu.

"Do you have any other questions?" Gavron asked. "I'd be happy to answer them."

Hikan thought long and hard. "I have two. Do you know Charonus? And how long have you known about me?"

Gavron frowned. "Charonus… I don't think I know the name, no. As for how long we've known about you…"

He paused to take a sip of wine. "We first heard about you when a Matoran arrived at our headquarters several years ago. He intimated that the Great Spirits would soon begin work on a powerful weapon, then left. We never saw him again."

"Did he have a name?"

"Hold on…" While Gavron looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to jog his memory, Hikan took another sip of juice and immediately winced, a strange feeling building up in his body.

"Umm… I don't feel well…" he mumbled. Nahili leapt to her feet.

"I'll take him to the infirmary, sir," she said. Kora turned to Tanu and murmured something in his ear, at which the Toa of Stone smirked.

As Nahili led Hikan away from the eating cavern, it soon became apparent to the Toa of Crystal that, judging by the number of twists and turns in the tunnels they passed through, he was going nowhere near the infirmary.

"Where are you taking me?" he demanded as they left another tunnel into a cavern softly illuminated with blue Lightstones.

Nahili clasped her hands on Hikan's shoulders and turned him towards her.

"The entrance to the surface is up ahead," she said quickly. "You'll find your transport in a cavern there."

"What?" Hikan regarded the Toa of Wood with confusion. "Why are you doing this? Aren't I your prisoner? And what if Gavron notices I'm gone?"

Nahili snorted. "Are you blind? Gavron's had so much wine, the Great Cataclysm could occur and he wouldn't budge. You thought he would disclose valuable information about us that easily?"

"Well," Hikan snapped, "I haven't had much time to analyze others. I've been locked in a coffin for who knows how many years, after all. What did you want to tell me earlier, anyways?"

Nahili paused. "There is a Toa— _was _a Toa that looked very much like you. His name was Krakua."

"And you wanted me to know this… _why_?"

She laughed. "I don't know. Maybe I thought a memory could work just as well as the real thing. Maybe I was just foolish."

She released her hands from Hikan's shoulders. "What are you waiting for? Go already!"

As he left the cavern, Nahili was stationary for a few minutes, her expression unreadable. Then she began her trek back to the cavern.


	12. A Night Out

**Hi everyone! Before you read, two brief things:**

**Yes, this is a new chapter. I hope that, because this is the summer, I can write a few more chapters in the next few months and get them up here without there being a length of, what, seven months in between? I have no intentions of abandoning this project.**

**I've also begun adding proper titles to chapters. I decided to do this to perhaps bring to your attention significant elements within chapters that have a greater influence on the overall plot… so consider the titles' relation to the chapters from now on. **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Eleven – A Night Out**

The Rusty Anchor was, despite its status as the only tavern on Metru Nui (or rather, the only _sanitary _bar on Metru Nui), not exactly the most popular place for Great Spirits to have a drink. It had a long-standing reputation as the sole blemish on what was believed to be an otherwise spotless island, home to every despicable act one could think of.

Of course, that didn't stop _everyone, _and for eager new recruits (mostly the male ones), the Rusty Anchor held a certain allure. It was the place recommended (although only subtly) by captains whose charges had either been valiant in battle or had difficulty proving themselves. Many Alpha-division Spirits were known to patronize the tavern, offering discreet gifts of widgets under assumed names. Without the Rusty Anchor, many knew, there would be no outlet for the growing restlessness many recruits began to feel after a few months away from Metru-Nui.

Sakron could remember his first visit like it was yesterday…

-

"_Are you sure this is okay?" Sakron looked at Captain Riven and glanced at his surroundings with clear anxiety. They were seated at the bar, and while what was visible in the dim light of the Rusty Anchor made him squirm, he had a feeling that what was hidden in the darkness was far more terrifying. _

"Relax,_ Ronnie," Riven said, slapping him on the back. "_Everyone_ goes here."_

"_Thanks, Ish," he said to the Po-Matoran tending the bar as he handed them two drinks; Riven had thanked Ish numerous times since the two had entered an hour ago. "You ever had Visorak Spit before, Ronnie?"_

"_I hope not," he said. "It sounds awful."_

"_Yeah, well, that's what they all say. Try it."_

_Ronnie took a deep sip of the murky green liquid in the glass before him and nearly spat it out. Riven grinned with approval._

"_That's my boy. At least you didn't spit it out—that shows you've got nerve."_

_He paused. "You ever have a girlfriend, Ronnie?"_

"_Once…"_

"_And?"_

"_What do you mean, 'and'?"_

"_You poor thing. Here, let's see if I can help. Excuse me, miss, would you—"_

The rest of the evening had long since vanished beneath the murky tides of memory, but if Captain Riven had intended what Sakron believed he had intended, Riven had accomplished his goal.

-

"Hey there, Ronnie!"

Sakron flinched as Charonus pulled up a seat beside him at the bar.

"You don't mind if I call you that, do you? I just thought of it on the way over."

"Not at all," Sakron said. "How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't, actually. Just wandered in. It's a regular haunt of mine."

"Mine too." Sakron paused.

"You want a drink or something?"

"Sounds good. I'll order."

"Oh, that won't be necessar—"

"Two Visorak Spits, please."

Sakron raised an eyebrow as Ish placed two glasses before them. "Are you sure you want this? It's pretty strong."

Charonus laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. I've had this hundreds of times before."

He drained his glass in one gulp and sat back. "Mata-Nui, that's _good_. Never gets old."

"No," Sakron said, taking a careful sip. "So, Charonus..."

"Yes?"

"How did you become involved in this? Coming to Metru-Nui and all."

"Well," he said, a little slurred, "I was born in the Water Archipelago. Started out as a navigator, actually."

"Really?" Sakron furrowed his brow. "You don't say…"

Charonus grinned. "It seems I have a particular talent for getting people where they need to go."

"You're from the Water Archipelago, right? Do you know Eladre, by any chance?"

"No. Who's he?"

"Actually, it's a she."

"Whoops, sorry. I get that wrong all the time…"

"No problem. Listen, I was thinking about something, just before you came here actually, and I was wondering if…"

"Yes?"

"Well, you see, I'm part of this team— well, we're not really a team; we could probably be fine without each other, so we're more of a group— working on a special project."

"And?"

"Well, you said you're a navigator and all, and we do work all over the Empire, so it'd be useful to have someone with your skills on board."

"Meaning…?"

"I'd really appreciate it if you'd join us."

"How many is 'us'?"

"Me and two others."

"Male or female?"

"Both female. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if I wouldn't be intruding on your turf."

Sakron turned a deep red. Charonus laughed and slapped him on the back.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I didn't mean it _that_ way, you know. I'd be happy to join."

"Sounds great. When can you start?"

"Tomorrow, if necessary."

"Perfect! I'll have someone give you directions either tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to this."

"Me too, Ronnie. Me too."

The two shook hands as Charonus turned to leave.

"See you tomorrow," he said, grinning.

"You too," Sakron said, trying to understand why, as the Rusty Anchor's door closed effortlessly shut behind his new friend's hulking frame, he had such a heavy heart.

Having another guy around the office would be a _good thing._

Wouldn't it?


End file.
